Well with Arielle Lorre - 208: Solo: Wellness Routine, Q&A and Healthy Habits

Episode Date: November 9, 2022

In this solo episode I’m answering questions from listeners including current wellness routines and habits, cooking favorites, how to unlearn restrictive mindsets, intuitive eating to fuel your cravings, which procedures & treatments are (and aren't) worth it, current must-haves, and more.   Go to littlewordsproject.com/BLONDE or enter BLONDE at checkout for 30% off your first order. It’s the best offer you can get, limited time only.     For listeners of the show, Calm is offering an exclusive offer of 40% off a Calm Premium subscription at CALM.COM/blonde.     Right now Ritual is offering my listeners 10% off your first three months. Visit ritual.com/BLONDE10 and turn healthy habits into a Ritual.      Right now, LMNT is offering my listeners a free sample pack with any order. Get yours at DrinkLMNT.com/BLONDEFILES.   Get Origins gift sets today, available at Origins.com.     Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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under-sorgue. Go to your Reisadviseur or SunnyCars. The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Hey, welcome to the Blond Files podcast. I'm your host, Ariel Lorry, and I'm here to talk all things wellness. From how to

achieve optimal health and well-being to the best beauty tips and everything in between, no topic is off limits, and I'm bringing it to you real and unfiltered. I know there is so much information out there, so I'm here to help you navigate it all. Thanks for listening. Let's get into it. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the show. I have been saying for a week, that I was going to do a solo Q&A episode. And even though I feel like I have absolutely zero wisdom to impart at this moment in my life, I wanted to deliver. So let's just see where this goes. I'll just be taking random questions from Instagram. They were kind of all over the place. I'll try to make it make sense. As expected, most of the questions were about my personal life,

which I just will not be discussing at this time, really. But I said what I said in September's solo episode, and that hasn't changed for some reason. It seemed to go over people's heads, but I don't think I could have been more clear. So I know I'm being very vague, but I did say in general, in September's episode, what was going on. But yeah, things have been a little crazy just in my life in general between like my personal life and work. And I also, got food poisoning possibly twice or I had the flu or something but oh my god I have never experienced anything like that ever so what happened was I ate around 8 p.m. Well actually let me rewind. I picked up food around three in the afternoon salmon, broccoli and sweet potato. And it was

already cooked and I had to do a couple errands but I got home around four. And then I was like, oh, I'm going to go for a quick walk. Ended up being about an hour. And I left the food on my counter. So I may have poisoned myself. I got back. I ate around five. I felt fine.

I had a two-hour massage, did something else. And then at 8 o'clock at night, I was like, I'm still hungry. I should probably eat a little bit more so that I don't wake up starving in the middle of the night. So I ate it. And it was still sitting on the counter. So about five hours. And I just was like so busy.

and my mind was elsewhere, so I really didn't even think of it. So as soon as I ate at 8 o'clock at night, I felt sick right away. And just like queasy and like something wasn't right. So I took a Zophran, which is for nausea, which usually works like magic, but it did not work at all. I started just feeling like just sick. And so I was like, I'm going to go to bed, sleep it off, fell asleep around 9. And I woke up at 12.30. in the morning like the exorcist, okay? Like I shot up in bed. I ran to the bathroom and let's just say I was violently ill in all the ways. It was awful. I couldn't get up off the floor for like 12 hours. And I was just drenched in sweat. I had a fever. I couldn't keep any fluids or meds down. Like I was trying to take so fran, but I know that when you have food poisoning, you just kind of have to

let it all out. And it was like that for a day and a half. Like at first day, I got fluids and that kind of held me over for a couple hours and then I was sick again. And then I was just so nauseous and weak for a few days after. But I did have a fever for two days. So that's why some people were like, are you sure it was food poisoning and not the flu? But I mean, the timeline is pretty telling. So yeah, I would not wish that upon anybody. Like, I truly thought the end was near. I just remember laying on the bathroom floor, like, making these primal moaning noises, like drenched in sweat, shivering, fever, throwing up. I know I sound like I'm being dramatic. And I'm sure most of you are like, yeah, we've had food poisoning. We get it. But it really was that bad. Thank God for concierge nurses and doctors, which are like, there's just so many of them in L.A. because if I hadn't gotten. IV fluids and meds those first two days, I probably would have just gone to the hospital for dehydration alone. So anyway, that's a total tangent, but a bunch of people asked what happened, and if I knew what it was that I ate and where I got it and I do, but I don't want to really say

because I don't think that it was anything to do with the food. It was my fault for eating food that I had left out for a long time. I was talking to my friend yesterday whose boyfriend is a chef, and he was saying like, I think the rule is two hours. Like you can't leave especially fish out for more than two hours because then it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. So now I know. And yeah, I felt a little betrayed because it was salmon. I was like, well, salmon wouldn't betray me like that. But it did. I won't be eating fish for a long time. Anyway, now that that is out of the way, let's see. I'm going to start with. some wellness questions and some kind of on the topic of being unwell. So what is my routine like right now? Well, as you guys know, I took a lot of time off from working out after having my boobs done this summer and then I was traveling. So I was totally off every kind of routine, except that I was walking daily once I had my strength back. And of course, when I was traveling, I walked and I biked a lot. But my actual wellness routine over the summer and early fall was

basically non-existent. I was just trying to heal. I was trying to nourish my body. I had so much other stuff going on that it was just like, you know, I would forget to eat, which never happens, ever, ever. I am a, I live to eat. I don't eat to live. But it was just trying to keep myself alive and functioning now, especially because things have been so crazy with work and personal life and just everything going on. I'm really trying to hone in on routines again, especially with working out. It's kind of funny. Like sometimes when things are really good, I find that I don't like or I don't want a really regimented workout or wellness routine. But when things are unstable or things are really stressful. I need to commit to a routine to create some sort of stability in my life. So I have

been back training with Harley and Ashley like two days a week. And that's my favorite. If you're having trouble getting into a routine, just book classes if you can or plan a workout with a friend or a trainer, something where you have to show up no matter what, even if it's a class online, whatever it is. And if it's with friends, I think that it's actually better because of the social aspect. That's like really what gets me there because it's kind of like therapy and friend time and working out. And then the rest of the week I will fill in with like an at home workout like P-Volve. I'm also going to start doing Pilates again because that is just so good for me mentally and physically. Like you really have to have that mind-body connection and be super present.

And when I was doing that like three days a week, this spring when things were also really stressful, it really grounded me. And I loved how I felt afterwards. It just felt like it was really nourishing. So I would say I'm working out like four to five times a week, but nothing super intense. I was talking to Harley about this yesterday. Actually, the workouts that we do are hard. Like we'll do kind of light weights and machines. But we really keep the heart rate. down. So afterwards, I never feel taxed. Like, in fact, yesterday we were listening to jazz and it was just so chill, but we did a really great, like, sculpting, strengthening workout. And that's really when I see the best results. Not when I'm like hitting it so hard, doing cardio, jumping around and exhausting myself. It's when I do workouts that feel really supportive to my body, even if they are difficult. I mean, they should be difficult to get results. But yeah, the more I feel like it's nourishing my body and making me feel good, the more inclined I'm going to be to do it. Whereas if I'm doing something that feels too hard or feels like it's draining me instead of like giving me

energy, that's obviously not sustainable. So let's see. And then nutrition-wise, I've been focusing on cooking more and especially now since food poisoning, I'm traumatized. Like I only want to eat food that I have prepared. So I'm really trying to eat breakfast, whether I'm hungry or not, because otherwise I will go all day. I'll have like my macadamia nuts and macha in the morning. And then I'll just have like a post-workout smoothie in the afternoon and my, I'm starving, my blood sugar is all over the place. And it just fuels the stress that I'm already feeling. And I've usually been like a stress eater, but during this phase of my life, I've been a stress not eater. So that really magnifies everything, like, because I'll get so hungry and, you know, it just kind of makes my anxiety worse and

I can't think clearly. So, yeah, focusing on breakfast, very importante. And then having my smoothie pre or post workout, which is like my joy of the day. And then I'll have like a small portion of protein and veggies for lunch. And then I have been making this dinner of like chicken, rice and vegetables or I'll do like a brown rice pasta and vegetables. Just can't do fish for a while. So yeah, aside from that, sleep, of course, is the foundation of everything. I did not sleep while last night and I can just tell my brain right now is so jumbled. So not the best day to be doing this, but do my best here. It's that time of year when I'm I'm sure we are all starting to think about gifts and do some gift shopping for the people in our lives.

And it can be hard to come up with new fresh ideas. But one surefire gift, in my opinion, is the gift of skin care. And Origins took gift giving to the next level. They have incredible gift sets. They have stocking stuffers. All of the packaging is really cute and festive. And they have incredible sets of skincare. Whether you're living, looking for the all-time essentials. If you're looking for masks, they have the mask this way set, which is a five mask starter set. They have the Origins Funhouse, which is 24 essentials for face and body at such good prices. They have all for youth, which are plant scription essentials to cleanse and plump. So whatever you are looking for, they have a gift set for you. So Origins is the OG skincare. I have loved them ever since I started using their tea tree oil back in the day in high school.

Origins is the pioneering nature-infused skincare brand, and they have elevated gift sets that will surprise and delight everybody on your holiday shopping list. Origins creates transformative skincare with naturally derived ingredients to noticeably improve how skin looks and feels. Origins has a long history of commitment to our planet by reducing waste and caring for our natural resources. All of the Origins Holiday Gift Set cartons are plastic-free, recyclable, and sourced from responsibly managed forests. And for every tree harvested, new trees are planted. To date, the brand has planted over 2 million trees around the world, so you can feel good about the gifts you are giving this season from origins. So I'll tell you what I would personally love. I would

love the mask this way. Like I said, it's a five-mask starter kit. This is a way to pamper the ones you love with five masking favorites. It features origins drink up intensive that delivers 72 hour hydration, which I need right now. Original skin to retexturize and refine the look of pores out of trouble to absorb excess oils. That can lead to blemishes, active charcoal mask, which is my favorite to deeply purify and detox and charcoal honey to purify and nourish skin. And then they also have the best sellers set, which is a $70 value for $45. It has six bestselling essentials from cleanser to moisturizer, sized to go wherever the holidays take you, including the checks and balances frothy face wash, clear improvement, active charcoal mask. They have Dr. Andrew Weil for

origins, Mega Mushroom Relief and Resilience, Soothing Treatment Lotion, and the fortifying emulsion. They have ginsing into the glow, brightening serum, and ginsing, refreshing eye cream to Brighton and Deepoff. This is such an incredible cream. I love it. So definitely check out on their site what they have. I promise you will find some amazing gifts. And you can get Origin gift sets today available at Origins.com. Do you want to start a company but have no idea where to begin? Or do you have dreams of becoming an influencer? Well, the Life with Mariana podcast is here to help. I'm Marianna Hewitt, a Los Angeles-based influencer and co-founder of the Clean Skincare Line Summer Fridays. Each Tuesday, I'm talking to my friends from business owners, wellness experts, and more to share all of their best advice for you to live your best life.

Make sure to tune in and subscribe to my podcast and follow me on Instagram at Marianna underscore Hewitt to see what's coming up each week so you don't miss an episode. I got a bunch of questions about getting out of an exercising rut and a nutrition rut. So for me, I feel like a broken record saying this because I talk about it a lot. and I'm asked about it a lot, but it's really always starting with small, manageable things, like committing to a walk in the morning or the afternoon or, like I said before, scheduling a couple workouts a week where it's in my calendar and I have to show up. And usually what happens is I just love how I feel from those workouts that I want to do more of them. Or like add in workouts on the days when I have nothing planned because I want to feel good.

that's what it all comes down to. And I feel like everybody knows this now. But that was really the shift for me. Like I used to do things not to feel good. I did things to get a certain result no matter what. And, you know, high intensity training and cardio and restricting. Like that all made me feel terrible. It stripped me of my energy. And I just totally hit a wall. and it was obviously not sustainable. But when I made that shift to like, what can I do today to give myself energy and make myself feel good? And that shift is what really like transformed my whole approach.

So for nutrition, I would say cooking or like having a meal delivery service is so helpful if you're trying to get back into a routine. It's so cliche. But it's like that saying, like if you fail to plan, plan to, fail. Not that there's really failure in this scenario, but for me, if I don't prepare, whether that's by having meals delivered for the week or grocery shopping or having lots of like nutritious good food on hand or cooking some things that I can prep for the week, if I don't do that stuff, I'm usually going to end up hangary, ordering postmates multiple

times a day, you know, skipping meals, getting a smoothie in the afternoon, blood sugar crashing, like just not feeling great. So actually ever since my food poisoning, there's been like one meal so far that I'm craving that is not messing with my stomach. And I'm going to post it. I posted about it last night actually. Maybe by the time this comes out,

I'll actually have it on my Instagram so you guys can check. But it's this really easy, amazing honey garlic chicken thigh recipe. You could also do chicken breast. I'm sure some people don't like thighs. But I do it in an instant. pot and it just shreds apart. It's so good. So yeah, it's what do I do? I'll try to tell you guys here. It's like three quarters of a cup of honey, three quarters of a cup of coconut aminos, about half a cup of ketchup. I'll do like the primal kitchen unsweetened. I do like four tablespoons of minced

garlic and then I do salt, pepper, oregano, parsley. You can put whatever like herbs or spices you want in there and just mix it together. Pour it over the chicken in the instant pot. Do it for like 22 minutes. That's how I like it. And it's just so good. And then I have it for a couple days. And then I cook some jasmine rice and bone broth and a little ghee. And that is also so good. And I can make big batches of both and have those for lunch or dinner or like dinner one night and lunch the next. I'm the kind of person that I can eat the same thing over and over again. But it's also just so delicious that like you're going to want to. So I'll probably eat this combo till I'm totally sick of it. Anyway, I don't even know if I'm answering any of these questions. I'm so lost. I have no idea. I'm

just jumbled. I wish I could tell you guys the insanity of my days lately, maybe someday, but I know everyone is dealing with something, so I'm sure you guys totally get it. All right, anyway. Okay, somebody asked how to unlearn calories so that they can stop restricting foods. This is something I have talked about before, and I am by no means an expert on this, obviously. So this is just my experience, but I definitely went through a very restrictive phase where I was tracking macros, and I knew not so much, the caloric value of everything or I knew the calories, but I focused more on how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat everything had. And it's interesting because at the time I thought it was really freeing. Like, I felt like I could eat anything as long as it fit into my macro count for

the day. And I could volume eat. So I never felt hungry. But as soon as I went out to eat or I ate something that I hadn't logged for the day or deviated from my macros at all. It was so stressful. I felt like I would literally blow up like a balloon or something. So I know for some people tracking macros or dieting for weight loss in a sustainable, healthy way works. I had Alana Mollstein, a dietitian on the podcast. She specializes in weight loss. And we talked about this. And I totally support anybody doing whatever works for them. But if you're trying to get out of that restrictive mindset, the way that I did it, again, similar to how I get out of a rut, it was like very incrementally and slowly. So what I did was I would break it down by meal. So I started with

breakfast and I wouldn't track or look at any values or log anything in my app, even though in my head. I kind of knew it, but I would log my, you know, lunch, snacks, and dinner, but breakfast, I would just eat. And I would eat whatever I felt like. And then I could still track whatever I ate the rest of the day. Once I got comfortable with that, I added another meal. So I would not track breakfast and lunch. And then I would track dinner. And I still had that in my head. That's one of the really hard things about, you know, tracking calories, tracking macros as once it's in your head, it really does follow you around for a while. It's just like a habit that you have to unlearn. And for me, I just unlearned it by giving myself the freedom to eat intuitively. And, you know,

it's trial and error. But once I got comfortable with that, you know, I would add another meal until finally I realized that I could intuitively eat foods that I was craving and I could eat what I wanted to when I was hungry and eating became a much more enjoyable, less stressful thing. And ironically, I actually felt like my body kind of leaned out probably because I had more energy to work out and I wasn't so stressed all the time, even though it was like a subconscious stress. So it's so hard to give advice around this because, you know, different things work for different people. And if it's really detrimental to your life and your mental health, it might even be worth working with a dietitian or working with a therapist. But this is what worked for me.

And then, of course, and this is where I lose people all the time, having a meditation practice that just grounds my nervous system and helps me to be present in the moment, be present in my body, really helped with learning to eat intuitively because I learned how to be in my body. And I learned how to be in my body and I learned how to slow down and recognize cues and recognize hunger cues instead of just being in this constant state of fight or flight, kind of distracted robot mode where, you know, I'd be eating because I was hungry or eating because I wasn't hungry and just telling my body what it needed instead of my body telling me what it needed, if that makes sense. So all of those things really helped, but I would say for me, like the meditation piece is what really brought it

all together for me. When you think about self-care, what comes to mind? For me, self-care is implementing good habits into my daily routine and making a commitment to do those habits, no matter what is going on in my life, so that I can have a sense of inner security and groundedness. and the most important commitment that I make to myself every day is meditating and taking time out of my busy schedule to use the Calm app. So Calm is the number one mental wellness app to give you the tools that improve the way you feel. You can reduce stress and anxiety through guided meditations. You can improve focus with curated music tracks and rest and recharge with Com's imaginative sleep stories for children and adults. There's even new daily movement sessions designed to relax your body and uplift your mind.

Over 100 million people around the world use Calm to take care of their minds. And I can see why they have such a comprehensive app that have so many options, whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced, whether you have three minutes or over an hour. You can browse the app by whatever your goal is, whether that's managing stress, a better work life, changing for the better. just starting a meditation practice, walking, improving focus, support for unstable times. So many different options. Right now I absolutely love the overcome stress and anxiety series with Dr. Julie Smith. It has been helping me so much. These are short meditations. There's a five minute creating emotional safety that I love, process and move past negativity, face difficult emotions, distance yourself from anxious thoughts, challenge your negative thoughts. There's so many things

in this series and they're all under about 10 minutes. So it's super manageable. I also love Jay Shetty's meditations and there's just so much incredible content to discover here. So for listeners of my show, Calm is offering an exclusive offer of 40% off a Com premium subscription at com.com slash blonde. Go to C-A-L-M.com slash blonde for 40% off unlimited access to Com's entire library. This is such a good deal, such a small investment that will truly pay dividends in every area of your life. So again, com.com slash blonde for 40% off a Com premium subscription. I don't know about you, but I need reminders sometimes to be grateful, be positive, have strength. And what better way to be reminded of this than to literally be wearing it on your wrist?

That is where Little Words Project comes in. So little words are bracelets that are made to be worn, loved, and one day passed on to somebody who needs a word of encouragement more than you do. The best part is each bracelet has a unique code on the tag that you can register on their website so you can track where your bracelet goes as it inspires from wrist to wrist. and they have these really cute beaded bracelets with charms, and they have different words on them. And you can also do custom ones.

So they make really great gifts for everybody on your list this holiday season. And they are also at an amazing price. I love that you can customize them. You can choose the color ways of your beads. And like I said, you can also customize your text. I got some for my core group of friends. and it's just such a cute thing to have. I love stacking it with other bracelets and with my watch,

and they're just cute and trendy and fun. And then I also love the idea of passing it on to somebody else when you feel like you don't need it anymore, and then you can track where it goes. And it's kind of like the sisterhood of the traveling bracelet. I don't know if I'm aging myself by referencing that movie, but it's just such a great idea. such a cute stocking stuffer or gift with the holidays coming up.

So if you want to empower yourself and spread kindness to others with the original word bracelet, we have a special offer for my audience. Go to little wordsproject.com slash blonde or enter the code blonde at checkout for 30% off your first order. This is the best offer that you can get and it's a limited time only. That's little wordsproject.com slash blonde for 30% off your first order. You can also find Little Words Project at Target, Nordstrom, or one of their flagship stores. Thanks, Little Words Project. Is it okay to feel good when someone notices you've lost weight in a healthy, sustainable way?

Well, I feel like this is a very complex topic. I don't think it's black and white. Like, yes, it's okay or no, it's not okay. I think it totally depends on the person. It depends on the context. But in general, I think like nobody really should be comment. on anyone's weight to begin with unless they're asked. So there is that part. But sounds like this isn't really about the question itself. It's about the reaction and the reaction of feeling good when

somebody notices that. So again, I think it depends on you and your relationship with yourself, with your body, with your goals, all of that. So if you were unhappy or you were unhealthy and you've been losing weight, as the person who asked the question said, in a healthy, sustainable way, and you're proud of that and you're feeling good and it's like not where you're placing all your self-worth, then I think by all means, like, be proud of it. But I do also think on some level, we are all just kind of subconsciously programmed to receive that as a positive thing regardless of our circumstances. Like I lost weight the last few months, just like I said before, due to stress and not eating as much. And people have said to me like, oh, you look great. You've lost weight. And my initial reaction is like,

fuck yes like I received that and then I'm like wait a second like I was thin to begin with so why is that a compliment like why would that be a good thing that I you know got thinner and like why am I happy about that and I think it's just this like programming that we all have I remember even when I was like a teenager you know and I was tiny as a teenager but you know we would I've talked about this before do the cabbage soup diet and try to lose weight and like if someone said you were skinny it was like Yes. Like, it's just been kind of ingrained in us that like losing weight equals good. But back to the question and my original answer, like if you're doing it in a sustainable, healthy way and you felt like this was a goal of yours because you felt like you were unhappy with your weight or you

were, you know, having health issues or whatever and you receive a compliment and it makes you feel good, then, you know, I think that that's okay. Okay, let's switch gears. I did get a bunch of questions about the boobs. So more boob updates. This is the question that I'm answering. More boob updates. How are they? Are you recovered? Do you need new clothes? If you're not interested in my boobs, which I'm sure a lot of you are not, I will make this quick. So stick with me here. But yes, I feel like I'm totally recovered now. I have full range of movement without any discomfort. I can roll around in bed and unfortunately I wake up on my stomach again now sometimes which is a habit that I broke over the summer and I was like fully sleeping on my back and I was totally fine with it and I felt

like my face looked better and everything but now it would appear that I'm back to my old bad habits and I need to retrain myself but yeah everything is healed up incisions look barely there and those will continue to heal and the implants dropped to their final position and they're just so good. Somebody asked if I've had any issues with them and I have not. They've really only brought me joy like way more than I expected. I didn't expect anything out of this. I just wanted to lift them back up and like be able to wear low cut things. And I mean, it delivered 10fold, a hundredfold. Like I really had no expectations. You guys know I just never really cared. But it got to the point where I was like, yeah, these need to be lifting.

and I had the time this summer and very happy with my result. So I will say the recovery was much longer than I expected, which I talked about in my France and Boob's solo episode back in September. But not even just the initial month. I mean, it does take some time to get used to, but everybody is different. I know people who had implants and they didn't feel them at all after a few days and they were feeling good. But for me, it took longer probably because I did the lift too. And as for new clothes, let's see, no, I just need new lingerie. I went from a small B to like a pretty full C. And even I got a C the other day. And the cup was kind of small. And I was like, am I a D? Like it's weird because they don't look huge at all. They just look

totally proportional on my frame. And they look like a C. So I don't know. Everyone says cups. really doesn't say much about boob size, but anyway, my clothes for the most part still fit just better and I'm just so happy with the result. Like I kind of can't believe it because I just never cared and I'm like, wow, what was I missing? But I'm glad that I waited until I did because I waited until like I had to do the lift and all of it. So anyway, okay, we're done talking about my boobs. You guys can tune in again. I know there is a lot of confusion out there over. whether we need a multivitamin, and if so, what should we look for in a multivitamin? I personally don't like taking a ton of supplements and giving my body things that I may not

need, and this is where ritual comes in. So ritual is incredible because they really are designed to just fill in any gaps in our diets with nutrients to help maintain brain health, bone health, and blood health and provide antioxidant support. So over 97% of women aged 19 to 50 actually don't get enough vitamin D from their diet and 95% don't get their recommended daily omega-3s. And Rituals Essential for Women 18 plus multivitamin was formulated by exhaustive research to help fill in these gaps in the diets of women age 18 plus. Ritual took things to the next level by investing in the gold standard for research, which I know you guys really appreciate, which was a university-led clinical trial to study the impact of their essential for women 18 plus multivitamin.

And the result was an increase in vitamin D levels by 43% and omega-3 DHA levels by 41% in just 12 weeks. So this is incredible. A published clinical study proving the effectiveness of a multivitamin is a big deal and a serious commitment to a first of its kind standard in the industry. Something that I really appreciate about ritual is that there's no shady stuff ever. They use traceable and vegan-friendly ingredients. They always have clear communication and they're really committed to not only the best product, but transparency. So another reason why I love ritual also is the time release. I don't know about you,

but sometimes if I take supplements, I get a little bit of a queasy, nauseous feeling. And with ritual, I don't get that. And they also have a minty tab. So when you take it in the morning, you just feel clean and ready to go. So right now, rituals offering my listeners 10% off your first three months. Visit ritual.com slash blonde 10 and turn healthy habits into a ritual. That's 10% off at ritual.com slash blonde 10. Did I mention that I had food poisoning two weeks ago? Because, yeah, I had food poisoning two weeks ago. I know you guys are sick of hearing about it, but I have to shout out Element because this is truly what got me through it and what got me feeling like myself again. So Element is a tasty electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don't.

That means lots of salt with no sugar. It contains a science-backed electrolyte ratio, which is 1,000 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium, and 60 milligrams of magnesium. This was critical when I was losing so many electrolytes and so dehydrated. It has none of the junk. It has no sugar, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, no gluten, no fillers, basically no BS. So this is something that you definitely want to give your body, whether you are sick or dehydrated, did a really hard workout. Even if you're just eating a really low salt diet, you might not be getting the electrolytes that you need. So element is formulated to help anyone with their electrolyte needs. It's perfectly suited, whether you're following a keto, low carb, or paleo diet, or whatever your lifestyle is. And if you didn't know, electrolytes facilitate hundreds of functions in the body, including the conduction of nerve impulses, hormonal regulation, nutrient absorption, and fluid balance. So this is something that I learned years ago with my nutritionist when I was feeling really bloated all the time and felt like I was retaining a lot of water. He,

told me to put salt in my water, which is kind of a hard thing to stomach, but it seems counterintuitive, but this really can help with fluid retention and bloating. It can also help to prevent and eliminate headaches, muscle cramps, fatigue, sleeplessness, and other common symptoms of electrolyte deficiency. So my favorite flavors are the citrus. I love the orange and I love the watermelon, but they have so many great flavors. And right now, Element is offering my listeners a free sample pack with any order. So that's eight single serving packets free with any element order. This is a great way to try all eight flavors or share Element with a salty friend. Get yours at drink element.com slash blonde files. This deal is only available through my link and I'm

telling you guys you will be hooked. Go to drink, d r-I-N-K, L-M-N-T dot com slash blonde files. Element offers a no questions asked refund policy. So try it totally risk-free. If you don't like it, share it with a friend. And they will give you your money back. No questions asked. You have nothing to lose. Someone asked if there are any procedures I've had that I wouldn't recommend or don't think are worth it. Well, I'm sure you all know my answer to this, which is threads, which are threads. Huge waste of money, in my opinion. I think they are just more. likely to have complications than they are to give somebody the result that they're looking for. Plus, if you continually do them, it's like you've just paid for surgery right there because

at least when I did them, they were like, I don't know, three or four thousand dollars and you have to do them like every few months if you want to have a result because I know that people say it builds collagen and look, I'm no expert. I'm no doctor. I don't know. Some people like them. But in my experience, after I was swollen, there really wasn't anything. And it was only complications for me. And it was so painful, like so, so painful. And you know, I'm not trying to push surgery, but I just feel like some of the less invasive things, like they're just kind of marketing ploys and they're designed to keep the patient

coming back for maintenance. Whereas surgery, while of course it has risks and it can be more expensive. and all of that, it requires very little, if any, maintenance. So I think overall, the more cost-effective thing is to do something that's permanent. You know, if it's good surgery, it'll have a more desirous outcome for the patient, unless it's not done well, which obviously is a risk. But I guess there are pros and cons to each. But, yeah, threads, I would not recommend. Surgically, I don't think there's anything I wouldn't do again. I'm very happy with all the little tweaks that I've made. made over the years. Someone also asked what my favorite non-surgical thing I've done on my face is.

And I think really it would just have to be like the maintenance things like lasers. You know, I'll do a yearly fractal. I might start to do twice a year. I like clear and brilliant for maintenance. I do a little Botoxin filler. But at this point in my life, I noticed that I just look so much better, brighter, plumber, juicier, all the things. I don't know what juicier means, but when I'm really taking care of myself on the inside, like you can chase everything with Botox and filler and lasers, but if you're eating like shit, sleeping like shit, stressed out, and I'm saying that because I'm all of those things today, and I look it, there's no amount of maintenance that is going to make you look vibrant,

you know, hydration, sleep, food, sweat, all of those things are the absolute best things non-surgically to focus on. And then you have like a nice canvas to do your skincare and do whatever procedures you want to do. What worked for my breakouts? Well, I have never had acne ever. Like I've had breakouts here and there, hormonally or from stress. But in May, I just started erupting. And it was so frustrating. I have so much empathy for people who go through this because I really got to a point where I just felt totally hopeless. Like, I was so self-conscious. I was breaking out around the sides of my face and my jaw.

So, you know, I was thinking it was hormonal, but my hormones at the time were all, quote, unquote, normal. I tried any and all products. I saw so many experts. I did the facials. I did all the topical stuff. If I would stop any and all products, I stopped actives, and there were things that worked temporarily. Then it would come back with a vengeance. And I was just lost.

And it seemed like whatever I did actually just made it worse. And then if I did nothing, it would still get worse. So it was like there was no solution. I loved the noise skincare and living libations, see Buckthorne Cleanse. and I still use it, but I was still breaking out around my jaw and under my neck. And it was definitely because whatever was causing it was internal and not a topical thing. Actually, when I had Dana on the show, Dana Amari from Noi skincare, she said the same thing. She was like, you know, it's something that you have to work on internally.

And she sent me a facial reflexology tool, which I've been using. I worked with Jen and I switched to a lot of products and took out anything potentially. irritating to where my routine was and still is just like two products. It's a cleanser and skin-seutical spytomask used as moisturizer, but ultimately the only thing that worked was good old spironalactone. I know meds are like band-aids, blah, blah, blah, but I was desperate. And I was like, well, I worked to figure out the root cause here. I've got to calm this down. And so I went on a low dose of Spiro and it started working. I want to say like six weeks in and it really does just kind of stop the breakouts in their tracks or at least it did for me.

So I'm working with Rob Yang again as well because I'm having some ongoing gut issues and the food poisoning was like pouring gasoline on that. And I'm sure that has to have something to do with it or that affected my hormones or something. So the Spiro is a temporary thing while I get all of that sorted out. But that is what ultimately worked for me. And now I'm going to do a peel or a fraxil or something to just help get rid of the red marks that were left behind. And then I'll slowly start reintroducing actives into my routine. Okay. So that brings me to current makeup and skincare must-haves.

I do think that the skin suiticals phytomask is a must for winter. And for anybody who struggles with redness, especially it's this green gel. It's cooling. and it just feels so nice on the skin. And when I leave it on overnight, my skin is soft and even in the morning. And I've also been using the Babor, B-A-B-O-R, their high-all, H-Y-O-L. I know people are going to ask. They have a two-step oil cleanser that I love to use at night to take my makeup off.

And a few times a week, I'll just use that as my cleanser because it also leaves my skin really silky and hydrated. And then I'll do the phytomask. and then other nights, if I feel like I need a deeper cleanse, I will do that. And then I'll go over and cleanse with a skin suiticles or obaji cleanser and then the phyto. And if you like the phytoc mask, skin suiticles, and this is not sponsored, but please sponsor me. I love you. They have a phyto serum with azaleic acid in it, which I do like for breakouts because I feel like it treats them without irritating the skin. And I also just saw Ami song posted that they have a Fido spray.

So she said it's really hydrating and really helps with her redness. So I'm going to have to get that one. Two, if you can't tell, I love anything Fido at the moment. It just really helps to soothe my skin so well. And in the morning, I just either splash with cold water because I don't really have any product on my face or I'll cleanse and follow with my sunscreen, which is the skin better, sun better, tinted SBF. It is so nice for a dewy look and they also have a great compact. They have this like smart tone where it's only one shade of tint, but it matches your skin perfectly. So I love that.

Makeup is always the same. I've not changed my routine in years. I do Laura Mercier concealer. I am happy to announce that I've finally learned how to use a beauty blender the other day. I don't know if you guys have heard of these before. I don't know if you're familiar, but finally got on that. train. I was like, wait, this makes such a huge difference compared to using a brush. Like, where have I been this whole time? Damp beauty blender is my jam for just like really light,

flawless coverage. Actually, Suyan, who does my makeup, was over the other day doing my makeup. And she was doing a beauty blender. And I was like, how do you do this? Because when I used them in the past, it looked like I was sponge painting my face. But she kind of told me and I figured out how to like dampen it and make it, you know, go on smooth. So I'm feeling very accomplished if you can't tell. So I do that. And then I do a little bronzer. I'll switch between gnarz or hourglass, blush. Same. I'll do nars or hourglass. And then I do a swipe on each eyelid of Laura Mercierge eye shadow stick in caramel, which somebody on Instagram recently thought was a complication from my blephroplasty years ago. I was like, no, that's eyeshadow. It's just,

a slightly darker beige tone than my skin, and I just love it with my coloring, so thank you. And then I do the Cover Girl Lash Blast Clean Mascara and a little Sephora Sink or Swade lip liner that's been my routine for years. I don't deviate. I'm not like a big makeup person, and I just want to look natural and like no makeup makeup. Somebody asked for lips. If you can't do a lip lift, do you recommend Botox lip flip? I mean, I think there's no harm in trying the Botox lip flip. I don't know why it's called a flip. It doesn't really flip anything, but it can lift a little bit. The lift will be pretty minimal. A lip lift surgery shortens the filtrum, which is the skin between the nose and the upper lip. And it does this because the skin is excised and, you know, the muscle is cut. So that area becomes smaller. It becomes shorter. And that creates like this more youthful pouty look. Whereas Botox can just paralyze that muscle and maybe create a little bit of a lifting effect, but it's not going to be the same as, you know, surgically shortening that area.

But, you know, they'll also use so little Botox. So it's pretty inexpensive. It's temporary. So you can see if you have like a desired effect. And if you don't like it, it'll wear off. Just be prepared to not be able to drink out of a straw for a while. Have I ever had an Insta comment that got me down? In the past, for sure, you know,

know, people can tell you wonderful, amazing things about yourself all day long, but the one negative thing is the thing that you're going to remember years later. So that was definitely my experience, you know, in the beginning years of having a platform. But usually people's comments are kind of low-hanging fruit, like about my appearance or my marriage and things like that. So that really doesn't bother me. Now, the only negative comments, actually, that I can still remember were people who I engaged with, which just tells me that engaged. is not a good idea. There was this one woman years ago who was like, sent me a DM and said, like, you think you're better than everyone else because you drive a range rover. Mind you,

I've never shown the outside of my car ever. And at that time, I think I would just like post stories or something talking in my car. And she was like, I drive one too. Like, so does everybody in L.A. So what's your point? And she was like, all you do is post your meals from Airwan. You think you're so special. They don't give a shit. Blah, blah, blah. And it's kind of funny looking back on now because I went on to have a drink with them. So actually, they did give a shit. Thank you. But anyway, it was clearly like this trick was super insecure or jealous or whatever because she was lashing out at me over these random things. And normally I would never, ever engage, especially something like that. But she caught me at a bad moment and I clapped back and it turned

into a whole exchange that ended in me just blocking her. And it wasn't that it was mean or anything. It was just like the feeling of being somebody's personal punching bag, which I enabled her to do by engaging, left me feeling so gross. But now, you know, I've kind of learned how to deal with it. And now I just let it roll off. I block people so fast all the time when they DM or comment nasty things. And I just really don't care because we're living. in a time when with social media and all these like public forums, I don't know, it just gives angry or jealous or insecure people free reign and like the anonymity to take their pain out on other people with no consequences. But I do get comments all the time about like being a gold digger

and, you know, people don't realize like that this is an actual career and being ugly and being stupid and my podcast sucks and my recipes suck and things like that. I get those daily, but I just block people and I move on. Okay, I'm going to try to do some quicker ones because I'm losing my voice and my energy and my train of thought. My boyfriend's sister is an addict and the whole family enables her, how do I deal? Deal by staying the fuck out of it. Honestly, I don't recommend anybody get involved in their significant others' families' business.

like it just seems like a recipe for resentment and disaster. I would recommend just dealing with what it brings up for you in therapy or something, if possible, and just try to be supportive of your boyfriend if he talks about it with you. And maybe like you can gently recommend like Al-Anon or therapy or something to him. Because something I learned years ago that I totally agree with is that alcoholism and addiction are family diseases. They aren't just limited to the person who's used. using, it bleeds into the whole family system and everybody has their role in it. So there needs to be

like individual and systemic recovery for there to be healing, which can happen in a number of ways, like the individuals can seek their own help to deal with the issues that are present or sometimes the alcoholic or addict gets sober and in long-term recovery, that can, you know, affect the family as a whole in a really positive way, meaning like everyone starts to heal as a result of that person getting sober. But, all of that is to say I would stay out of it and just be supportive because if you point out that they're enabling the sister, you're going to be seen as the bad object and you don't want to be the bad guy here. So that wasn't quick. Let's see. Where do I see myself in five years? I have no

idea where I'm going to be in a week. So I'm just putting one foot in front of the other and doing what's in front of me. Okay. I'm going to do one more. One thing we should stop and one thing we should start. You guys always throw this question back at me. And it's so dependent on like whatever I'm going through at that point in time. So right now I would say stop depending on anything external for peace or comfort or happiness, whether that's money or status or relationships or whatever. And I would say start doing anything that grounds you and makes you feel stable and secure internally, despite external circumstances. All right, that's it for me for today. I hope that made sense, was helpful, was entertaining in some way. Love you guys. I'll talk to you next week.

I hope you enjoyed that episode. If you liked it, and if you like the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes a long way, and it's actually the best way to support the show. Also, if you want to see me, more about each episode. You can head over to The Blonde Files podcast on Instagram. I'm always posting about each episode there or over on my personal page at Ariel Lori. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.